Adaptation to climate change is often conceptualized as a dichotomy, with responses being either planned (formal and structured) or autonomous (organic and self-organized, often known as “everyday adaptation”). Recent literature on adaptation responses has highlighted the existence and importance of the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation, but examination of this interaction has been limited to date.  A global database of 1,682 peer-reviewed articles on adaptation responses was used to systematically examine both types of adaptation, with an emphasis on their interactions. Through this examination, a third category, mixed adaptation, is proposed to capture responses that display characteristics of both autonomous and planned adaptation. This mixed category reflects nuances in how organization, external support, formality, and autonomy manifest within the space between the two categories.

Analysis reveals that more than one-third of articles discussing adaptation responses fit into this mixed category, with examples spanning various sectors and regions worldwide. From these findings, a qualitative typology of mixed adaptation emerges, identifying nine ways in which autonomous and planned adaptation can interact, both positively and negatively. These insights suggest a need for a more nuanced approach to the interplay between autonomous and planned adaptation, advocating for a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy in adaptation planning. Exploring the patterns of interplay from a large database of adaptation responses offers new insights on the relative roles of both autonomous and planned adaptation for mobilizing adaptation pathways in locally relevant, scalable, effective, and equitable ways.